Don't Believe the Lie
by Batman Lamp-Writer
Summary: Sequel to CaD. When life back at Amity Park doesn't seem to be going as well as expected, Maddie calls in a favor from an old friend. Now, Shawn has to both help Danny AND run interference between him and the SBPD as the boy flips his life upside-down. But is the teen really as opposed to the help as he seems? And when an old foe resurfaces, can the two manage to work together?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't really know why I'm writing this when I _know_ it'll be at least a month (if not more) before I can post the next chapter. Oh, well.

Playlist for this chapter: "Made of Glass" by Trapt, "Scream" by Thousand Foot Krutch, "Falling Into Black" by Skillet, and "Lanterns" by Rise Against.

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_Santa Barbara, CA, 1987_

"_Alright, kid," Henry Spencer began, crossing his arms and staring hard at his twelve-year-old son, who squirmed in his seat. "Since the Gusters are out of town for a while—"_

"_Gus _ditched_ me, Dad!" the boy cried out, indignant at the 'betrayal' from his best friend. "He didn't even _try_ to see if I could go with him or if he could stay here!"_

_Henry was turning bright red in anger. "Shawn, he was going to a_funeral! _You—!" Henry calmed himself down forcefully. "Now, while he's gone, I found someone else to keep you out of trouble."_

_Shawn blushed, then bristled and glared. "I don't _need_ a babysitter, Dad, I'm _twelve!_"_

"_You tried to prove you could _fly_ last week by_ jumping off the jungle gym in the park!_"_

_Shawn huffed. "I knew I'd land safely."_

"_You fell on top of some sunbathing man with a beer belly!"_

"_On purpose!" Now Shawn crossed his arms. "I knew his Santa-belly would soften my landing."_

_Henry rolled his eyes. "Forget it. I found you a babysitter, now be polite and _behave_ for once while I'm at work." He turned and called into the house, then came back out with a young girl—only a couple years older than Shawn—and stopped in front of his son. "This is Maddie O'Connor. You remember the O'Connors from down the street?"_

_Shawn studied the redhead while answering his dad. "Yeah, but they only had one daughter, Alicia, and she's kinda mean."_

_Maddie grinned at him. "Yeah, 'Licia's not too happy with guys. She just had a bad break-up last week."_

_One of Shawn's eyebrows jumped up at that. "But she's mean like that_all_ the time!" Then he frowned. "And that doesn't answer where you came from."_

"_It's an on-off relationship. They break up every other week almost. And, I just moved here." She smiled sadly. "The O'Connors adopted me."_

"_So, you're not _really_ related to the meanie?" he asked, eyes sparkling mischievously._

_His dad yelled at him, but Maddie giggled. "Nope. Not related, thank God." She winked at Shawn. "She's mean to me, too, when she breaks up."_

_Henry gave up and left, knowing the two would be getting along fine._

_After his dad was gone, Shawn studied Maddie again. She noticed the change in his attitude instantly._

"_What's wrong?" she asked, sitting down next to him._

_He sighed. "I can't call you Maddie."_

"_Okay," she said easily. "Why not?"_

_He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "That's Mom's name. And Dad always yells it when they fight."_

_Maddie thought that over, then nodded. "Alright, so make up a name for me."_

_Shawn blinked. "What?"_

_She shrugged. "Everyone calls me Maddie, anyway. It'll be fun to have another nickname." She smiled at him. "It can be whatever you want."_

"_Really? 'Cause Gus got mad at me when I first started calling him Gus, but I think he got used to it…."_

"_Sure. And it doesn't have to be only one nickname, either. Think of it like a game. See how many different names you can give people."_

_Shawn beamed up at her. "I think I'm gonna like this game, Nancy Newbie."_

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_Amity Park, CA, 2011_

"Kids! Time for breakfast!" Maddie Fenton called up the stairs. "Wake up!"

Groaning met her ears, along with an overly cheerful, "Okay!" Then, the now-customary morning fight over the girls' bathroom ensued. Stifled yells made their way downstairs, ending with a smug laugh and an aggravated shout of the winner's name. Feet stomped over to another room down the hall, and Maddie chuckled at her daughter's explanation.

"Danny, your clone's a cheat! Let me use your bathroom,"Jazz exclaimed, not bothering to knock before heading in.

"What's for breakfast?"

Maddie jumped, not expecting the black-haired girl to have finished so quickly. Danielle Fenton chuckled, flopping down into a chair. "We've got eggs, so I was thinking omelets."

"Yum!" Danielle replied enthusiastically, rubbing her hands together.

Maddie rolled her eyes at the girl's near-insatiable hunger and started making up omelets. As the first was set before Danielle, Jazz came into the room slowly, a confused look on her face. Maddie's brow furrowed. "What's wrong, Jazz?"

The redhead bit her lip. "...Did Danny stay over at Sam or Tucker's?"

Now, the woman frowned. "No. I don't even remember him leaving last night."

Danielle stayed suspiciously quiet, digging into her omelet with unusual enthusiasm.

The two older Fenton women turned to her, mirror images with hands on hips. "Danielle, where is Danny?" Maddie demanded.

For such a smart girl, Danielle was a horrible liar, and she knew it. So she spilled. "He said he just needed to be alone for a bit!"

"_Danielle!_"

She pouted. "He's out at the Hill."

The Hill was actually an overlook at the edge of town. Since coming back to Amity Park, Danny had spent nearly half his time at the Hill, either just watching and thinking or, more frequently, calling Alex Rider, Yassen, or one of his FBI friends.

Maddie sighed. "When did he leave?"

Danielle glanced away, rubbing her neck nervously. "Just a few hours ago…."

"_When_, Danielle?"

"...Around nine last night…."

The woman groaned, grabbing for her keys. "You two get to school, I'll go get Danny."

Danielle huffed, jumping up. "No! He deserves _some_ privacy! Everyone's been either smothering him or treating him like he's some priceless china doll since he got here!"

"Danielle, he's been alone since last night! He runs off every other day! He's getting _plenty_ of privacy!"

"Obviously _not_, if he _keeps running away!_"

Jazz stepped in, taking Danielle's shoulders and leading her to the door. "C'mon, Danielle, we're gonna be late. I'll drop you off on my way to class." Jazz was currently attending the local county college, but still took the time to drive her siblings and their friends to and from school.

Danielle rolled her eyes but left, slamming the door behind her.

Maddie sighed again. "He wouldn't _have_ to run away if he just _told_ us what was wrong…."

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The world was quiet for once. Not _silent_, God no, birds still sung and wind still blew, but this was far from the honking and yelling and squealing tires and chatter of the town. Here, Danny could relax and practice with his new hypersensitivity. He'd sit up at the top of the Hill and close his eyes and take a deep breath and let his consciousness spread across the Hill and the valleys and the town itself until he could feel each person, each car, each heartbeat and breath of every living thing within two miles. It was a heady feeling at first, to be able to sense every movement of every thing. Then, he'd breathe in and catch all the smells of Amity Park. There was fresh-cut grass and dew and rainwater and the various dinners from each house. For instance, one house nearby had had stir fry for dinner and another had chicken parmesan.

At least, he assumed it was dinner and not a person.

Ever since his kidnapping, Danny had found that his new heightened sense of smell came with a cost. Sure, he could easily pick out the individual scents that made up a whole, but he couldn't tell _where_ the smell originated. As such, he'd often confused himself by guessing. What he thought were the scents of people actually came from buildings or trash cans or other inanimate objects, and what he thought came from inanimate objects actually came from people or animals. After a while, he stopped guessing, instead just filing away the combinations he picked up for later cataloguing.

Of course, he hadn't told his "family" about this, mostly because Danielle was the only one he knew wasn't a clone—er, was real. His life definitely was backwards, if he was avoiding possible clones and trusting a known clone—even if that clone were like a sister to him.

Danny sighed, opening his eyes to stare up at the clouds above him. He'd watched the sun set last night, watched the moon rise and fall, watched the stars wink in and out of sight.

And of course he'd gotten his tri-weekly phone calls from Reid, Yassen, and Alex. The three were constantly concerned for him and as such very rarely let him off the phone without his promising to get in touch should anything get worse. It was simple to assure Reid he was fine—the profiler wasn't quite as sharp over the phone—and Garcia had butted in long enough to chatter at him about Skyping her soon.

Yassen was harder to convince, seeing as he knew Danny didn't really want to be in Amity Park, but he let it go after the teen promised he was weaning himself off the sleeping meds he'd been addicted to. Of course, he never mentioned that, as a trade-off for not taking the meds, he'd only slept a couple hours every week or so.

Alex was different. Alex didn't need any convincing because he didn't ask. He knew Danny wasn't alright, knew he wouldn't be alright for a long time. He avoided the topic—directly, at least. Alex would find the most roundabout, subtle ways of getting his answers, ways that didn't make Danny mad, anxious, or flighty. These were the calls Danny always looked forward to, to the point where, if Alex was late in calling, Danny would actually call _him_.

The teen was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the car door shut or the footsteps approaching until the shadow fell over him. "Hi," he mumbled, tipping his head back to glance up at his "mom."

"Daniil Hunter Fenton," she began, hands on hips and frowning heavily, "what were you _thinking_, running off like that?"

He sighed, closing his eyes. "I couldn't sleep. I needed to do_something_, so I came out here." He opened his eyes again. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Danny…." Maddie sighed. "Fine. But at least _tell_ us next time you decide to leave, okay? Leave a note or something."

"Alright."

They were quiet for a long moment as Maddie sat down next to Danny and the two just watched the town. Then Maddie glanced down to see Danny's wrists spinning wildly. She sighed again. "...It's getting worse, isn't it?"

Danny dug his nails into his palms, forcing his hands to stop rotating. "No."

"Danny."

The teen looked away.

"_Danny._"

He sighed. "Yeah, it's getting worse."

Maddie nodded. "I thought as much." She stood, brushing herself off. "C'mon, let's get going."

Danny blinked at her. "Huh?"

She stretched out a hand to help him up. "You've got school, and I've got a couple tickets to buy. How'd you like to visit your godfather?"

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_Santa Barbara, CA, 2011_

"And _that_ is why I say _The Hobbit_ p'owns _The Silmarillion_." The man speaking grinned proudly at his logic, which received groans and eye rolls from his audience.

"Shawn, what's that gotta do with the murder we're investigating?" Burton Guster—Gus—hissed at his best-friend-slash-partner.

Shawn Spencer's bright grin slipped slightly. "Oh, right. About that, it was the butler."

That was as much goofing around as Head Detective Carlton Lassiter could take. "_Spencer!_ There _is_ no damn butler, we're in a _restaurant_, not a _mansion!_"

The energetic brunette smiled once more. "Did I say butler? I meant waiter. Specificallyyyyy," Shawn drew the word out dramatically as he spun and pointed at one of the waitstaff, "_him_."

Green, shocked eyes went wide, staring at the group of policemen that were now watching him. "B—But I—!"

"See, he thought that—"

But Shawn's big reveal was cut off as the waiter went running and the Santa Barbara Police Department went chasing. Not one to be ignored, Shawn called after them, "You're welcome!" Then he turned to Gus. "Well, I think that went well. Jerk chicken?" He held up a fist.

Gus pounded it. "You know that's right." They headed for the door to leave.

"_Shawn!_"

The brunette winced. "_So_ close." He turned, facing his disgruntled, red-faced father. "Yes, Dad?"

"What the _hell_ was _that_, Shawn?" the man yelled. "You aren't _paid _to argue over _books!_"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "If you had your way, I wouldn't be paid, period."

Henry Spencer crossed his arms. "If I had my way, you'd be a_detective_, not a _fraud!_"

"Love you, too, Dad. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got dinner plans!" With that, the two sped out the door and into Gus' blue Echo hatchback. Once he'd slammed his door shut, Shawn yelped, "Drive, Gus, _drive!_"

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_Amity Park, CA, 2011_

Sam grinned when she saw her friend headed towards her. "Hey, Danny, what's—?" He blazed past her. "—up." She sighed, turning to Jazz and Tucker as they walked over. "He's been like this ever since he came back last month. What's going on?"

Tucker shrugged, and Jazz sighed. "I don't know. He won't talk to us anymore. Danielle's the only one he even lets near him." Jazz nodded down the hall to where Danny and his clone were standing, the girl chattering away happily. "He just locks himself in his room or goes to the Hill. He spent the night out there, y'know."

"What?" Sam gasped. "Why?"

Jazz shook her head. "Dunno. Mom just said his ADHD's getting worse. She's planning on taking him to stay with his godfather."

The two younger teens gaped. "Huh?" Tuck said. "What godfather?"

The redhead frowned. "I told you about him, didn't I?" She thought back. "Yeah, remember the friend of Mom's who left before we found out about Danny's hallucinations?"

"Yes," Sam snarled, still mad about the apparent abandonment.

"He's Danny's godfather."

"_What?_" both shrieked.

"That _jerk?_" Sam hissed.

"Why'd he leave Danny if he was his godfather?" Tuck wondered.

"Because he had ADHD, too. Well, ADD, but close enough," Jazz responded, leaning back against the lockers. "He stayed with us for almost a year, which was a _lot_ longer than most places. But by that point, he was getting restless. So, he left."

"Left Danny to kill himself," Sam grumbled.

"No," Jazz murmured back, pausing as a group of jocks walked by. Once they were gone, she continued. "He told Mom about his suspicions before he left. It's actually _because_ of him that Danny's still alive."

The three stared across at the two half-ghosts again. Danielle was still jabbering at her older counterpart. Every so often, Danny's mouth twitched as though he was going to smile, but it never truly formed. Each time he failed to smile, Danielle seemed to droop a little more.

Sam turned back to Jazz. "...This guy can help Danny?"

"He did before," the elder replied.

"...When does he leave?"

Jazz bit her lip, watching as Valerie went over to the half-ghosts and joined the (one-sided) conversation. Valerie was the only other one who Danny really let near him. "Tomorrow. He and Mom leave in the morning."

"Wh—Where are they going?" Tuck asked.

"...Santa Barbara."

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_Santa Barbara, CA, 1989_

"_I'm _never_ going to have kids," Shawn declared as he burst into the O'Connor home. This had become a frequent occurrence over the past two years as he and Maddie hung out whenever Gus wasn't available._

_Maddie wasn't even thrown off by the odd statement. "What did Henry do now?" She, like Gus, had been told of the training, but unlike Gus, who tended to either ignore or not hear about the harsher lessons, she had tried to stop it. That had led to her being "fired" from the babysitter position, but just made her friendship with Shawn that much stronger._

_Shawn threw himself down into a chair, accepting the cup of pineapple juice Maddie passed him. "He _never_ lets me have any fun! Everything I do has to turn into some cop lesson, and he lectures me every single day now!"_

"_So you are swearing off kids of your own just because your dad's a jerk?" Maddie asked as she sat down next to him._

_He took a swig of the juice, then sighed. "No, I guess not. But I'm definitely not gonna be a hard ass on my kids like he is on me!"_

"_Language."_

_Shawn ignored the half-hearted admonishment. "I'll actually be a _fun_parent, no yelling or lecturing or 'how many hats?' Not from me. My kids will _like_ me. And I'll play games with them all the time and never ask them to describe a room with their eyes closed or zigzag away from a bad guy or break out of a trunk—"_

_Maddie blinked. "When did he make you break out of a—? _He **locked **you in a **trunk?**_"_

_Shawn waved a hand dismissively. "It was before you moved here. The point is, I'm gonna be a _way_ better parent than Dad!"_

_She chuckled, pushing back the new wave of anger at Henry and promising herself she'd never distance herself from her children. "I have no doubt you'll be the best dad ever, Shawn."_

_Shawn grinned. "And you'll be the next Mrs. Brady."_

_Maddie laughed now, doubling over._

_When she'd calmed down, Shawn turned more serious again. "Hey, Mads?"_

_She grinned at the one nickname he'd chosen to use consistently. "Yeah?"_

"_Do you ever wanna have kids?"_

_Maddie smiled at him. "Yes, I do. I wanna settle down and live in a nice little house and have a couple of kids… and see my brother more often."_

_Shawn nodded, having heard stories of her brother who sent her some money each month or so. "I dunno about the settling down, but I_would_ like to have kids." Then he grinned widely. "And I could make up new names for them each week!"_

_Maddie giggled at that. "You'd certainly drive their teachers crazy."_

"_What would you name your kids?" He was back to being serious, honestly curious about the topic._

_She put a finger to her chin. "I'm not sure. But, if I ever have a boy, I'd like to name him Daniil."_

_Shawn's head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "Daniel?"_

"_No, Dah-nee-_eel_."_

"_Daniil? Daniil." His head tilted the other way. "Why Daniil?"_

"_It was my _dyedushka's_ name." At Shawn's confused look, she added, "My grandfather. And I'd like to use my brother's name as his middle name."_

"_Daniil Yassen…," Shawn tried out._

_Maddie smiled vaguely, her eyes and mind a million miles away._

_Shawn grinned at her as she slowly came back to Earth. "Daniil Yassen," he repeated, "I like it."_

_She smiled brightly at him. "And I'll name you godfather, and you'll have to come up with new names for him all the time and spoil him and teach him how to have fun and smile all the time."_

_Shawn smirked. "Oh, I'll teach him how to have fun, alright."_

_Maddie's smile slipped from her face, and she grabbed Shawn's hand. "And you _have_ to help him, if I can't."_

_Shawn looked her in the eye, seeing how serious she was, and nodded. "Any time he needs help, he can come to me. I promise."_

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A/N: Okay. So this chapter is staying mostly the same as my notes, but the rest of the story got trashed. Panicking over college courses does not a good story make. So a major redux is being done to get this story back on track and up to my standard of posting. As such, that means it'll be a while before the second chapter will be posted, and I highly apologize for that.

In other news, the whole of this story will be highly influenced by Rise Against's newest CD, Endgame. I recommend listening to it while reading this, as I'm trying to use a song from it as a basis for each chapter.

So, read and review, and _please_ be patient with me. Any delays are strictly because I want this story to be as awesome as possible before I post it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: *comes out from bomb shelter* Um, hi…. So, uh, yeah, finally have a new chapter. Still gonna have delays with this one (and _Falling Is Easy_, but that's another story entirely), but I swear I'm working on it.

There's a long explanation for why everything is taking so long, but I doubt anyone wants to hear excuses, so, here's the story!

Playlist for this chapter: "Going Under" by Evanescence, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day, "Second Chance" by Shinedown, and "Survivor Guilt" by Rise Against.

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The ride to the airport was quiet. Jack, Jazz, and Danielle had said their goodbyes the night before, so Maddie and Danny were alone for the car ride and, upon arrival at the airport, the wait for their plane as well as the flight itself.

Maddie glanced over at her son, attempting to start a conversation with him, but he ignored her, instead shoving the earbuds of his neon green iPod into his ears. The flight passed much the same as the car ride had, silent, though Maddie noticed how Danny tensed any time he was touched by either her or the person in the window seat next to him. She was tempted to ask if Danny wanted to switch seats with her, but they were beginning to land by the time she had worked up the courage to speak.

As soon as the seatbelt light turned off, Danny had grabbed his carry-on and was out the door. Maddie sighed, following at her own pace as she muddled through the passengers who were all rummaging through the overhead bins for their own carry-ons. It was almost twelve minutes later that she finally made it out of the plane and into the gate.

Luckily, Danny had waited for her to get off. He stood off to the side, arms crossed, leaning against the wall and generally avoiding and being avoided by everyone. Maddie walked towards him, motioning at the signs. "We need to catch a cab. Shawn said to meet him at his work." Maddie walked as she spoke, knowing Danny was following her.

"And that would be…?" Danny asked. He was all too used to his godfather's inability to hold a steady job—and penchant for odd or "interesting" work. "Is he running another campaign or has he found another ballpark to work in?"

Maddie chuckled. "I actually don't know. He just said he's pretty well-known from it, so our cabbie should find it no problem."

"Oh, God, he's driving the Weiner Mobile again, isn't he?"

The redhead laughed. "We'll see, won't we?" She finally flagged down a taxi, and the two slid in, Maddie telling the driver, "We're heading for Shawn Spencer's business. Do you know where that is?"

"The psychic detective dude?" the (rather young) driver said happily. "Sure! Everyone knows that guy!" He took off, heading towards the building they wanted.

Danny turned to his mom, a deadpan look on his face. "...Psychic."

Maddie shrugged. "I guess he finally found a way to use his abilities."

Danny snorted. "Bet Henry _loves_ that."

Of course Maddie and Shawn both complained about Henry whenever they spoke. Danny knew all about his godfather's daddy issues. But last they'd heard from Shawn, he'd moved back to Santa Barbara while his dad was in Florida.

"Well, here ya are!" the cabbie announced happily. "Psych Psychic Detective's Office. That'll be $10.54."

Maddie handed over the money quickly as she climbed out of the taxi. "Thanks, keep the change!" She grabbed Danny by the arm and rushed him out of the car, tugging their luggage along as well. The taxi took off. "Now, Danny," she said, turning to the half-ghost, "I want you to wait out here. I wanna surprise Shawn."

Danny could tell by the mischievous glint in her eyes that his mom had gotten back in the proper mindset to deal with a trickster/con-artist like Shawn. "Alright."

"Just wait for my cue."

Danny stared for a moment. "How will I know—?"

"Trust me," his mom said, "you'll know."

And she went in.

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"Seriously, Shawn, I know you may not like him, but your dad's the one who decides which cases we can work," Gus stated as his friend tossed a bouncy ball against the opposite wall. "We kinda _have_ to stay on his good side so we get _work!_"

"I'm a _psychic_, Gus," Shawn said proudly, still tossing the bouncy ball, "I can _sense_ work!"

"Psychic, huh?"

Shawn and Gus jumped at the unexpected voice, both spinning to face the door and grabbing whatever object was closest as a makeshift weapon. The bouncy ball _boinged _back to Shawn, hitting him in the side. Gus hoisted up a stapler while Shawn held a tiny flashlight. But when they saw the woman standing, chuckling, in the doorway, they realized they weren't in danger and shot each other a look.

"Really, Gus?" Shawn whined. "A _stapler?_ What were you going to do with _that?_"

"I could've _thrown_ it, Shawn," Gus stated angrily. "Staplers are hard and heavy and hurt when they hit you. What were _you_ going to do with that little flashlight, huh?"

In response, Shawn merely aimed the device at Gus and turned it on. Gus yelped and fell back, covering his eyes. Shawn smirked. "LED lights. Brightest lights known to man, and perfect for blinding an unwanted guest."

"You didn't blind an unwanted guest!" Gus growled back as he stood. "You blinded _me!_"

Shawn blinked, then blushed. "Oh, ah, whoops... Sorry, buddy."

The redhead in the doorway was now doubled over, laughing. She wiped a tear from her eye as she stood and tried to calm down some. "Shawn Spencer, you haven't changed a bit!" she exclaimed.

Shawn finally got a good look at their visitor and grinned. "Mads!" he gaped, rushing over to hug her, picking her up and spinning her around in his excitement. She was laughing again when he set her back down. "God, it's been, what, twelve _years_ since you were last in Santa Barbara?"

"Something like that," she replied. "So, you're saying you're psychic, now? How's Henry taking that?" She winked cheekily.

Shawn chuckled. "He's not thrilled, that's for sure. But what brings you here?"

"What is going _on?_" Gus interrupted, staring between the two. "Who _is_ this, Shawn? And how does she know you're... not psychic?" The last two words were whispered as though Gus feared someone was listening in.

Shawn slapped a hand to his forehead. "That's right! Gus, Mads here used to babysit me whenever you weren't around! She actually was heading off to college right before we went into high school." He spun to Maddie, saying, "I've told you about Gus, right?"

She nodded, holding a hand out and offering it to Gus. "The famed Dr. Watson, correct?"

Gus paused for a moment before rolling his eyes and taking her hand with a sigh. "If he's Holmes, yeah, I guess. And you are?"

"Maddie Fenton. Though I'm sure that's not the name Shawn would use."

Gus snorted at that. "Of course it's not..."

"Mads," Shawn said, pulling the attention back to himself. Gus gaped to see that Shawn actually looked concerned. "What's going on? Why have you come?"

Maddie gave him a sad smile. "You remember Danny, right?"

Shawn blinked. "The kiddo? Yeah, I remember. I met him a few years back," he explained quickly to Gus, "while I was traveling the world. I stopped in Amity Park to see Maddie and her family." Looking back to Maddie, he asked, "What about him?"

She sat heavily in one of their overstuffed chairs, burying her face in her hands. "...He's never around any more," she mumbled after a long moment. She sighed, uncovering her face and limply resting her elbows on her knees. "You need to understand that the past two years haven't been easy on him. He's gone through so much, and we—we can't figure out how to help him."

Shawn was staring, open-mouthed. He knew Danny, but he couldn't think of the now-teen as a runaway, as—as him when he was eighteen. "...You think _I_ could help? M—Mads, I—"

"He runs off all the time," she continued, plowing through his protests. "We never know where he goes or when he'll be back or _if_ he'll be back. And when he goes to class, he can't sit still and gets thrown out or just leaves, and we can't get him to tell us _why._"

Shawn slowly nodded, catching on to why she'd come to him. "His ADHD is getting worse." Shawn had been visiting the family nine years ago when Danny was first diagnosed. At the time, he saw that the kid could handle himself, knew that Danny would learn to control his ADHD. But now... "What made him—? He was doing better, though, wasn't he?" He barely noticed that Gus was still there, still listening. "He was off his meds and doing well in school, right?"

"Yes, but like I said, the past two years have been difficult. We—We weren't around, a—and he had to leave. He was living on the streets for two years and needed the hyperactivity to keep safe. But, now that he's back home—"

"It's working against him."

The two stared at Gus for a moment. Shawn knew it was a worry his friend had always held for him, seeing as Shawn never bothered to tone down his own disorder.

Maddie just nodded, shocked. "Y—Yes," she breathed. "I need—_Danny_ needs—your help. You've managed to make a living for yourself without medication, which he refuses to take, or toning down your ADHD, which he can't. We can't help Danny, but you... Shawn, you _can_." She grasped Shawn's hands, pleading with him. "_Please,_ Shawn, please help Danny."

It was an easy decision to make. Shawn showed off his classic smile. "'Course I will, Mads. When do I start?"

Maddie clapped her hands together. "So, you can watch him for a while and help him with his ADHD?"

Shawn blinked. "Um, yeah, I gue—?"

"Perfect! Danny!" She turned to the door, where a thin, tall boy with shaggy black hair and blue eyes entered. He stood next to his mother but wouldn't touch her or be touched by her. "Danny, you're going to stay with Shawn for a bit, okay?"

A dark eyebrow jumped up. "Okay…."

Maddie grinned brightly. "Okay! Now," she pulled her suitcase towards her and opened it, showing off clothes more suited for a teen boy than a grown woman, "here's all your new clothes, you've got some games and such to keep you entertained." She turned to Shawn, adding, "He's used to being around crime scenes without interfering, so that should be no problem with your job." Back to Danny, "You listen to Shawn, okay? And don't forget to call us!"

Danny blinked. "Wait. _You're leaving?_"

The woman's grin slipped for a split second before returning full force. "Yes, I am. I have to help with damage control still while _you_ work on controlling your ADHD." She hugged her son, who tensed harshly at the contact, then blew a kiss to Shawn. "Bye!"

And just like that, the three guys were alone. And an awkward silence commenced. A _very_ awkward silence.

For the longest time, the three just stared at each other. Then, Danny's eyes narrowed into a glare, and he pulled out a cell phone, pressing speed dial. The teen turned away from the others as he spoke into the phone. "_Dyadya,_" he murmured, switching into flawless Russian, "_ya khochu domoy_."

Shawn's brain quickly translated that into 'I want to go home.' "No, you don't!" he yelped, lunging at Danny and snagging the phone. "_Do svidaniya!_" he mumbled quickly before snapping the phone shut and glaring at Danny. "Your mom wants you to stay here, Danny, and I'm _not_ gonna break my promise to her."

Danny scowled at the two men. "You can't hold me here against my will."

"Your mom signed off on it, yeah, I can."

Danny huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the two men—though, really, how could they be considered men when they acted like five-year-olds?—before him. "I can't _believe_ Mom did this. Why the hell am I even here?"

The brunette sighed, his hands resting on his hips. "Don't be the third Save the Wales float in a single parade! Your mom just asked me to help you relearn how to cope with your ADD. Er, ADHD. Whatever they're calling it now." He swiped a hand through his hair, the other waving around dismissively.

"Shawn, I really don't think it's a good idea," the black, sharply-dressed man stated. "We barely know this kid, and frankly, you're enough trouble for the both of us already."

"But Guuus!" Shawn whined, waving his arms around. "I already promised Maddie I'd watch him, and I can't back out _now!_"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself. I've got money, I'll just fly back out to DC."

"No," both men snapped immediately. They shared a glance, then Gus added, "You could just go back home."

The teen shook his head. "They still don't trust me. I couldn't even walk down the street without getting stuff tossed at me."

"You're staying here," Shawn declared. Then he grinned mischievously. "You can help me drive Lassifrass crazy."

One of Danny's eyebrows jumped up at that. "…Lassifrass? Really?"

"Detective Carlton Lassiter," Gus explained. "But Shawn tends to call him—"

"Lassie, Lassifrass, Lassieface…." Shawn counted off the nicknames on his fingers. He hopped a bit, a huge smile taking over his face as he added, "Oh! Detective Dipstick. That's one of my favorites."

Danny snorted, rolling his eyes at the last nickname. He definitely did _not_ miss Ember.

Shawn gasped and suddenly spun around, digging in a pile of papers for something, muttering, "I know I put one over here the other day…. Where is that thing?"

Danny looked at Gus, but the man just shrugged. Finally, Shawn came back up from his search with a pineapple in hand, a large red bow wrapped around its top. "For you!" he exclaimed, tossing the fruit at Danny.

The teen caught it, staring in shock at the hyper man. "Um, thanks?"

Shawn beamed. "You're welcome! Oh, Gus, we need to watch _The Monster Squad_ again! I'm sure Danny here knows a lot about the monsters in it!"

Gus blinked at his friend, obviously confused, while Danny sighed. "Mom told you, then?"

"Yep! It's gonna be _so cool_ to have a real live ghost around here! Can we pay you to haunt houses and scare up some business for us?" Shawn was suddenly in Danny's face, pleading.

Danny backed up a step. "Um, maybe?"

"Cool!" Shawn hopped over towards the kitchen, glancing in the fridge before pouting and turning back to Gus and Danny. "We're all out of pineapple juice. We must fix that! To the Blueberry!" He rushed towards the door, calling back, "Oh, and while we're out, we can stop by the police department and introduce Danny to Lassieface and Jules!"

Gus rolled his eyes, following his friend and starting to dig in his pockets for his keys. "Fine, they'll have to meet him sooner or later anyway…." He glanced back at Danny, asking, "You coming?"

Danny stared for a moment out the window at Shawn before looking back to Gus. "That's who's gonna teach me to keep my ADHD under _control?_"

Gus chuckled. "Believe it or not, that _is_ him under control. He just acts hyper to throw people off, usually. Shawn's got a weird sense of humor that way." Then Gus frowned, checking his pockets once more before running out the door, screaming, "_Hey! Shawn, you give me back my keys!_"

…Yeah, this wasn't gonna work.

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The ride to the station was fairly quiet. Well, quiet by Shawn's standards. The teen sulked in the back as Shawn rambled on about the people they'd meet at the police station. Somewhere between Buzz McNab and Officer Allen, they arrived.

Shawn didn't even wait for the car to stop, hopping out of the Blueberry to chase down the detective he'd seen. "_Lassie!_"

Danny just watched as the disgruntled detective tried to fend off the excitable pseudo-psychic. Of course, after being around FBI and CIA agents for the better part of five months, Danny's eyes were immediately drawn to the gun the officer carried on a shoulder holster. Given the glare the detective was sporting, Danny felt justified in stating, "He's gonna shoot Shawn."

Gus rolled his eyes as they got out of the now-parked car. "No," he said, "but he _does_ threaten to every time we see him."

"Cool. Maybe he finally will and I'll have to be sent back home." Danny smirked at the idea.

Gus frowned at the teen. "Hey, Shawn won't give up on you _that_ easily. When he sets his mind to something, he's guaranteed to stick with it—"

"For about two days," Danny finished. At Gus' questioning look, he added, "I know him, too, remember? Unless he's had a complete personality change in the past two years, he doesn't stick with _anything_ longer than it takes for him to have the idea to start it."

"He's been a psychic for four years already," Gus pointed out as they went inside.

Danny gave him that one. "True, but name _one_ other thing he's stuck with." There was a long pause as the two stared at each other, Danny with his arms crossed and Gus thinking hard over the years he'd known Shawn, before Gus sighed and shook his head. "Thought so."

Then the two turned to see the chaos that was the SBPD's office. Papers were strewn all over, and a _very_ angry blue-eyed, salt-and-pepper-haired detective was glaring at Shawn with a stray paper laying on his head. Shawn just grinned as he snatched the paper, displaying it proudly to the detective. "Was _this_ your card?"

"_Spencer!_" the detective snarled, grabbing the paper from him.

But by then, Shawn had noticed Gus and Danny. "Guys! Over here! Come meet Lassie and Jules!"

The detective, obviously "Lassie," spun to glare at the newcomers. "Who the hell've you brought _this_ time, Spencer?"

Shawn grinned again, wrapping an arm around Danny's shoulders to bring him to attention. "This is Danny! He's my psychic protégé." He glanced down at the teen. "Say hi, Danny!"

Blue eyes glanced warily across at the detective, wrists starting to spin. "...Hi."

Detective Carlton Lassiter rolled his eyes. "Great, another psycho."

Shawn tutted. "Now, now, Lassie, we are psych_ics,_ not psych_os_."

Danny's baleful glare turned on Shawn. "So you claim."

Lassiter blinked. "...You _don't_ believe this psychic crap?"

Danny shook his head. "No, I just don't believe he isn't psycho. Y'know, he started out driving us here himself. I was scared for my life."

"Hurtful!" Shawn whined.

Lassiter just chuckled. "Looks like your 'protégé' doesn't believe in your skills, Spencer."

"He's still new to the whole psychic thing," Shawn said, waving a dismissive hand. "His powers only recently developed."

"What do you think he is, an X-Man?"

"No, he's my _apprentice!_ Keep up, Lassie."

Lassiter rolled his eyes, but Gus was the one to respond. "I think he's referring to your description, Shawn."

"Of _course_ I was!" Lassiter glared at the duo. "I'm starting to wonder who the _real_ smart one is here."

Shawn pressed his free hand to his chest, gasping. "Are you saying you believed me to be smart? Why, Lassie, I'm honored!"

Danny slapped a hand to his face, grumbling, "It was an _insult_..."

"Get used to it, kid," Lassiter stated. "I've seen criminals pick out portions of the facts that suit their own purposes, but Spencer here must've wrote the book on it."

Danny rolled his eyes, shrugging Shawn's arm off his shoulders before turning to face the brunette. "Can we just go? Man, I don't even know why Mom thought it'd be a good idea for me to stay with you..."

Gus' eyes went wide as he blinked at the teen. "Wait…."

Lassiter seemed to be torn between laughing and choking. "Spencer actually _reproduced?_"

"Yes, I—" Shawn's eyes went wide. "Wait, wh—what? N—No!"

Danny smirked wickedly. "Oh, come on, _Dad_, tell them. Or are you _that _much of a jackass that you won't even admit to having a _son?_"

Shawn spun on the teen, gaping. "What the hell, dude?"

Lassiter had decided on laughing. "Yeah, own up to your choices, Spencer!"

Gus was too busy doing a landed fish impression to speak.

"Danny, quit it." Shawn turned to his friend. "Back me up, here, buddy! I'm _not_ a jackass!"

Gus still couldn't speak, but Lassiter couldn't pass up a chance to pick on the psychic. "I thought your dad would've taught you _something_. If you sleep with someone, you _should _help them out with anything that results from it!"

Shawn glared at the detective. "You don't even know what you're _talking_ about!"

"I dunno," Danny said, still smirking, "he sounds about on track to me."

Shawn's glare turned to the teen as he grabbed him and his friend by the wrists. "C'mon, I think we need to have a little _talk._"

Danny followed the pseudo-psychic, turning around to wave goodbye to the detective. "Bye, Lassie!"

Lassiter waved back. "Bye, Da—Wait, it's _Detective Lassiter!_"

Once outside, Shawn released the other two, turning to the youngest. "What the hell was _that?_"

The teen folded his arms over his chest. "_That_ was everyone believing _me_ over _you_. And I can make it worse if you don't let me head back home."

Shawn glared back. "No. I promised your mom I'd take care of you for a while." He turned to his friend, whining, "Gus, help me out here!"

Gus slowly shook his head. "Shawn's right, Danny. I was there when he made the promise."

"Fine," Danny snarled, "then I'll make your life a living _hell_ while I'm here!"

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A/N: Okay. Hopefully I can get more up soon. All depends on how demanding my classes are this semester. Fingers crossed they're not as bad as everyone says! Read and review, please!


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